Vlad's Niece
by MabelMay
Summary: To be completely honest, Vlad had all but forgotten his sister. One day he gets a phone call from his solicitors informing him of her death. He didn't see why he was told this, until he found out that she had a daughter. Being the only relative that can care for the young girl, Vlad takes her into his home. (T for mostly my paranoia and tiny swearing - like 'damn')(Edited chpt 5&6)
1. Introductions

I watch as the clouds pass beneath me. I almost feel as free up here as I do when I swim. Of course, it might be even better if I could actually fly. But being in an aircraft is the closest that I will get. No way will I ever go sky diving or bungee jumping. I know mum went bungee jumping at some point before either my brother or me came along.

And queue depressing thoughts.

I sigh and focus on the interior of the private jet. That's right. Private jet. My uncle that I have never met set me up on a twenty seven hour trip from home, to my new home. And part of that package, is the final leg would be covered in a private jet. Which I am both happy and annoyed about. Happy that I am alone – the people on the last fifteen hour flight were all really loud, therefore I have had no sleep. And annoyed that I am alone – it leaves me alone in my thoughts, a place I don't want to be.

It's weird that there are only three of us on the plane – me and the two pilots. Well, compared to the nearly two hundred that were on the other plane that I had been on. This one looks like it could be a living room. Seriously. There are couches – one of them even being able to turn into a bed – three different TV sets, and even a kitchenette.

I'm starting to wonder who my uncle actually is. Mum only said as we were growing up that they didn't get along as siblings. So, she moved to Australia, got married, and left her entire life behind. By the looks of things, he must be wealthy. Like, rich wealthy.

Hopping off the plane, the last leg of the trip would be an hours drive to my uncles place. And apparently that would be happening by limo. Jeez, is he serious. Although this is really nice, I think after stepping into the black leather interior. The next hour, I watched out the window as we passed the countryside, my first proper look of America.

It's not all that much different. Well, the driving on the wrong side of the road is. Oh, and the number plates. Why do cars only have one? Otherwise we could be looking at any place in Australia. Then again, there are no gum trees. Or big gaps between house clusters. Or kangaroos on the side of the road – you know, dead ones.

As I watch the sun turn to orange and set towards the mountains in the distance, I begin to wonder where I'm staying. Unlike what I said earlier, there is more open space out here. Only a few farmhouses dotted here and there. Nearing the hour mark, I spotted a huge castle. It looks in really good condition. Maybe someone fixed it up. Although, I'm not going to be the best judge of what castles look like. This is the first I've seen, there are none in Australia – at least that I know of. The limo driver continued to get closer and closer to the castle. Then we were heading up its driveway.

Okay, I know my uncle must be rich, but there is no way. No way in hell does he live here. Maybe the driver just wants to show me some of the cooler things to see. Yeah, that must be it.

The driver stops and I see him walking around the vehicle to my door. He opens it saying, "we are here, Miss Anna-belle."

I just stare wide eyed, both at the driver and at the castle looming up behind him. Hesitantly, I grab my knapsack and swing it over my shoulders, then swinging myself out of the limo. Once I'm out the driver shuts the door and proceeds to get my belongings out of the trunk. I stare up at the five story castle in shock and awe.

He does live here.

Claire is going to have a field day with this.

The driver walked up the front steps and left my belongings beside the door. He came back and stood next to me. "Do you need me for anything else, Miss Anna-belle?"

I quickly put my hands in the hoodie pocket that I'm wearing, and pull out a notepad the size of my hand and a pen. Scrawling on a blank page, I then show him the message which he leans down to read. 'My uncle lives here?' I ask him.

"He does, Miss. Good luck," the old driver says kindly before turning back to the limo. I numbly walk up the steps and hear the limo pull away. I stare at the huge wooden doors. I can't believe that this is how I'm going to meet my last relative.

Bracing myself, I knock on the door three times and wait. Feeling incredibly under-dressed for a place like this, I fiddle with my giant grey hoodie. Looking down to my very well worn purple converse and denim shorts. I fix my glasses to sit better on my nose and fiddle with my hair which is tied into a side plait.

The doors swing open with surprising ease for their size, leaving a tall man in the doorway. He towers over my short height, and takes me in with his deep blue eyes. His grey hair is long and pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He wears a very formal black suit with a white shirt.

"You must be Anna-belle," he says in a deep and formal voice. At my timid nod he continues. "My name is Vladimir Masters, your uncle."

* * *

I ushered the young girl into my home calling out for Sebastian, my butler. As he comes up behind me, I watch as Anna-belle shrinks in on herself, attempting to hide in that monstrous jacket of hers. I can't really blame her. Sebastian is at least two heads taller than the young girl with long brown hair. That's not even mentioning the fact that he is a ghost.

"Could you take Anna-belle's things up to her room?" I say to the butler.

"Sure thing, sir," the tall ghost replies.

Anna-belle keeps her wide blue eyes on the ghost the entire time. Sebastian easily lifts the three suitcases with his ghostly strength, then motions to Anna-belle's backpack. "Would you like me to take that bag up, young miss?"

She briefly glances at me while shaking her head and holding the straps tighter. Sebastian asks if I needed anything else. I dismissed him and he left my niece and I in the entrance hall together. She doesn't look too much like my sister did, at least from what I can recall. She must have her fathers looks.

"How was your trip?" I ask the girl and she jumps slightly. She shrugs and looks anywhere but me.

"Did you get much sleep?" I try again, noticing the dark circles under her eyes.

She shakes her head while looking around the grand entrance. I could see her attempting to be subtle about it, however that was not happening.

"Any sleep at all?" I persist this time making her look up at me. Once again she shakes her head.

Can she talk? I haven't heard her make any noise at all. She could possibly be mute. Deaf is out of the question as she does respond to sounds.

"Well, dinner is about to be served. How about we go eat then you can look at you room, hmm?"

She nodded at that and I led the way down a hallway and through a set of double doors. A grand dining room was set out before us. The long table which comfortably seats fourteen is currently set for two. I take my spot at the head of the table and she sits just to my left. Anna-bell drops her bag nest to the chair that dwarfs her. The smaller door at the other end swung open and two servers came out.

The first was the ghost from before, Sebastian. While the second is a young woman, probably around thirties, but she seems to have a timelessness about her. Sage – her name – has black shoulder length hair and green eyes, just as bright as Sebastien's. That would be because they are siblings, twins in fact.

They brought out the Chicken Alfredo and placed one in front of each of us. I asked for a glass of wine while Sage tried to ask Anna-belle what drink she wanted. It wasn't going well. Eventually Anna-belle brought out a notepad and pen from her pocket and wrote what she wanted. Sage brought back out a glass and pitcher of water. By the struggle before I would have thought the drink to be a little more complicated than that.

The diner passed in silence, neither one of us knowing quite what to do or talk about. So by the time we both finished, I offered to show Anna-belle her room. At her nod, we moved out of the dining room and up the grand staircase.

* * *

My uncle opened the decorated wooden door and held it for me. I ducked through and stood in what had to be the biggest bedroom ever. The main area which I am currently gawking at has a huge four-poster bed, complete with night stands on either side. A light pink bedspread covered the entire thing including the mountain of pillows, also pink. A wall separated the room into two which sat behind the bed. Well half a wall, it only reaches a normal roomed height, while this one is double heighted. Walking around the partition, I discover a separate study and lounge space.

"The bathroom and closet are through those doors there," Vladimir says – jeez, that name is long – pointing to two similarly designed doors to the entryway that I had overlooked at the foot of the bed. "Sebastian has left your luggage in the closet so you can unpack yourself. You should probably get some rest, so I will leave you here, unless you need anything more?"

I shake my head, still preoccupied with the room.

"Well, I best be getting a few things sorted. If you need me I will be in my study which is the first door on your left on the right side of the main staircase." He turned to leave closing the door lightly behind him. I realise that I hadn't thanked him at all and take the two steps to the door and open it up. Vlad – hmm, that's better – turned at the sound and looked at me curiously. I hesitated only a second before giving a light smile and signing thank you in AUSLAN, hoping that he knew what it meant. By his nod, I guess he got it. Bringing my head back in the room I shut the door for the night.

* * *

I sit under the covers of my pink bed after I had unpacked most things and had showered. You don't know how good a shower is until you have had one after travelling for over a day straight. I turn to look at my bedside table. I set up a family photo with all four of us in it from the stash that I was carrying in my backpack. Looking over the smiling faces of us at the beach feels bitter sweet. More bitter I guess. I flop down into the pile of pink pillows – I seriously need to get a different colour scheme – and instantly fall into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

**Yay for procrastination! (I think I spelt that correctly...)**

**This is my first go at writing anything with Danny Phantom (Disclaimer: I do not own btw) so hopefully I did okay...**

**Anyways, let me know what you thought and if I should continue. **


	2. Exploring

**This is just a bit of a filler chapter. Mostly just Anna-belle exploring more of the house and finding another of the 'staff'. The good stuff will be in next chapter and I'll get it up in a few days for y'all!**

* * *

I walk around my huge room wearing a pair of jeans, ugg boots, and a plain purple tee. I wouldn't normally wear shoes indoors – mum hates that – but I feel like this would be the one place that I should. I brush out my long brown hair as I wander. The living space is a bit ridiculous. Although I absolutely love the window seat that looks out over the forest and mountains in the distance. Another couch sits behind a coffee table just in front of the window too. On the opposite side of the space is a study area. A huge wooden desk and swivel chair sat away from the bookshelf that covers the wall. The bookshelf is empty apart form a single dictionary. There is a lamp and nothing else, wait. Is that a laptop?

It is. A slick black laptop sits in the corner of the desk just under the lamp. Placing my brush on the desk I pick up the ridiculously light laptop. Why is this here? This must be Vlad's, otherwise one of the maids' or butlers. But they wouldn't leave it in here, so it must be Vlad's. Doesn't he have his own study space?

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. Placing the laptop carefully down, I answer my door. The man himself is standing in the doorway, looking exactly the same as yesterday, suit and all.

"Good morning, Anna-belle. Did you sleep well?" he asks politely.

I nod and hold up a finger, telling him to wait there. I can feel his gaze on my back as I walk back to the desk and pick up the laptop. I hold out the device to him to take. He raises an eyebrow at me, amused if his slight smirk says anything. I furrow my brows confused. Why isn't he taking his laptop?

"Anna-belle, why are you giving me this?" he finally says.

I just blink at him. Not knowing if he knows how to sign, I simply point to the laptop then to him.

"No dear. It's yours." At my wide eyed look he chuckled. "You'll be needing it for your studies."

I blink again and walk it back to the desk. Why would he just give me a laptop? At home we only had one computer between the four of us, and my parents had their own work laptops. Picking up the discarded hair brush I walk back to Vlad.

"I'm about to get some brunch if you would like to join," he says turning back into the hallway.

I skip to the bedside table where I had left my glasses and toss my brush onto my made bed. Using a hair tie on my wrist, I pull two bits of my hair back and tie it there as I fast walk to catch up with my uncle's form down the hall. I catch up quickly and stay a step behind him. We walk in silence to the same dining room from last night. I don't mind the quiet, and just occupy my mind with memorising all the different features of Vlad's house. The green and gold in the front hall stopped there. The rest of the place has dark blues in the rooms and maroon halls.

A plate of pancakes was waiting for me, while Vlad had a sandwich with multiple greens on the side.

"Would you like me to give you a tour?" Vlad asks me in the middle of the meal.

Occupied with the pancakes, I just shrug, not at all bothered if he shows me around. Whenever my brother and I went to a new place, we got to run around and explore to find our way.

"Well you should probably explore a bit at some point today then. Wouldn't want you to get lost in here. I have some paperwork to go through so I will be in my study until lunch. Do you think you can entertain yourself until then?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and just nodded. Seriously, I'm thirteen, not nine. I can do stuff for myself.

"Well, I'll be off then," he says once he finished his meal. He walks out of the room and leaves me to finish my meal alone. I quickly do so and pause for a minute. What do I do with the plates? We left them here last night too. I guess the butler or maid got them. But it doesn't feel right having other people clean up after me. I've always helped out around the house.

With that in mind, I stacked Vlad's and my plates together and walked through the small door with them balanced carefully in my arms. Pushing through the door with my back, I walk into a large kitchen. It's about the same size as my new room but only a single height. White tiles covered the floors and the exposed walls between all the stainless steel bench tops and appliances. If this reminded me of anything, it would be a restaurant kitchen.

A rather large man stood on the other side of the kitchen with his back to me, whistling away. He appeared to be cleaning dishes in the sink. Walking over to him quietly I place the dishes next to his pile and only then did he realise that I was there. He gave a startled yelp and dropped the glass that he was cleaning on the ground causing it to smash. I jumped back immediately from the danger. The chef's eyes seemed to glow red for a second, but changed to blue when he touched something on his side. He is pale just like the rest of the staff here and has cropped grey hair.

"Young Miss! I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that you were here," he says in a typical grandfatherly voice.

Quickly signing sorry – bringing both fits up, one above the other, then switching them – crouching down, I start to pick up the bigger pieces being careful as not to cut my hands. The man walks off and brings back a dustpan and brush, picking up the smaller pieces. I dump the rest on the dustpan when he offers it up, and he walks over to the bin.

"All better," he says with a soft smile. "Now, did you want something more to eat?" I shake my head. "You know I could have gotten the plates."

I shrugged. "Well, this is what I'm hired to do, cook and clean for Mr Masters and now you." I slumped a little at that and he noticed. "But, you can always hang around if you wish. And just today you can help me dry off everything," he finishes by tossing me a hand towel that I easily caught and gave him a smile.

For the next ten minutes we washed and dried all the dishes. The cook hummed to himself the entire time. I was feeling a little guilty that I couldn't talk to him, and therefore didn't even know his name.

Getting his attention, I held out my left hand and pretended to write on it with my right hand. He turned to a draw next to him and pulled out a note pad and pencil. Taking them off him, I leaned on the bench and wrote out my message, 'What's your name?'

"Matthew, young miss. And you're Anna-belle, correct?"

I nod happily at finally knowing his name. It definitely suits him. And he is infinitely more approachable than my uncle. "Is there anything in particular that you would like me to make for lunch?"

'I think I'll be full for a while yet,' I write to him.

"Any snacks in that case then?"

'Cupcakes?' I write after a second to think.

He grins then says, "Would you like to help?"

* * *

I walked up to my room with a chocolate chip cupcake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles on a plate. I think these are the best cupcakes I have ever made! Matthew is the best cook too! He knows exactly what to do without even looking at a recipe.

I made it to my room before I took a huge bite of the still warm food. It melted in my mouth and in less than a minute it was gone. Leaving the plate on the desk, I switched it for the black laptop that my uncle gave to me. Sitting on the window seat in my room, I opened it up. It had absolutely nothing done to it, so I filled in all my preferences and waited it to completely set up, the wi-fi already linked to it I found. Once it did I went to IM and checked the time difference between here and Australia. Its 11am here, so it's about 2am there. Damn. I'll have to wait until this afternoon for Claire to get up. Sending her a quick message telling here that I'll be on again in a few hours, I shut off the computer and decide to go for a walk around the house/castle/mansion – whatever you want to call it.

I find that the castle I split up into two 'wings'. One side is the living space that seems to be frequently used, while the other is guest bedrooms and entertainment spaces. I found a theatre room, gym, indoor pool, twenty different guest rooms, music room (completely filled with different instruments), billiard room, ballroom, and multiple different storage cupboards. That's only touching the first two/three floors (there is an odd split level thing going on here). From what I can see there is another two levels higher up. I make it back to the grand entrance where the two sides split up. Making my way up the wooden stairs with an intricate hand rail, I decide to explore further down my hallway.

Directly across from my bedroom door is a huge library. My mouth gapes open at the two levels completely filled with books.

"No! There is no reason for him to..." I hear Vlad talking on his phone to someone. I easily slip out of the room without him noticing.

Further down the hall, there is another huge bedroom just like mine, only not made up. That was it for this side of the house. Although there seems to be a room on the other side of the hall, connected to the library. But there is no door. Is it just empty space?

Uh, idiot Anna-belle! The door is probably on the other side!

Walking around the other side, I see that it is almost identical to the other. A door leads to the library, I found Vlad's room (who even puts a fancy 'VM' on their door?), and a locked door. However the locked door didn't lead to the mysterious room. It is on the wrong wall to lead there. Hmm, I'll have to map this place out to work it out.

Making my way back to my room, I pass a grandfather clock that tells me it's time for lunch. Assuming that my uncle will be busy for a while, I make my own way to the kitchen. There I grab an apple, cupcake and a glass of water. Sitting up on a stool, I watch as Matthew makes Vlad's lunch, occasionally making conversation with me (well as best as we can that is).

* * *

**Thank you to KarinMaaka07 and 629kat for favouriting! And to DannyFenton123, Onio, 629kat, and D love for following.**

**DannyFenton123: Haha I planned for that to happen so don't feel too bad!**

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**So yeah! Let me know what you think and I will see you next time!**


	3. Awareness

**Just a really quick note on the speech for this fic:**

"This is when people speak aloud"

"_When somebody signs to speak_"

'And when something is written down'

**Disclaimer(which I totally didn't forget to put in last time): I don't own Danny Phantom. Only this story and Anna-belle.**

**Alright, onto the story!**

* * *

Twisting on my hair, I nervously waited for Claire to answer my video request. It feels like ages since I had spoken to anyone from home. It'll be good to hear from her again.

If she answers!

The annoying drone stopped as a video screen popped up. After taking a minute to load, I see my best friend on the screen, brown eyes and all. I have to take a breath as not to get homesick just at the sight.

"Hey girl!" she says perkily as humanly possible. I waved back giving her the biggest grin I could muster. Pretty big apparently. "How is the new place?"

"_You're going to love this_," I sign to her.

"Oh, tell, tell!" she says back excitedly. Claire has been my best friend since kindergarten and we literally told each other everything. Her loud nature makes up for my lack of talking. She had learnt AUSLAN when we met so that she could understand me better. Mostly we just made up our own way of talking though.

"_So, my uncle is loaded_," I say to her.

"Ha! Who guessed it? This girl!" she exclaimed happily. I just rolled my eyes. "Wait, how loaded?" she asks after laughing.

"_Would you like a virtual tour?_" I ask already picking up the laptop before she can answer. Carrying around the laptop I gave her a quick tour of my new room. Each time I would stop and sign to her her mouth dropped open in shock. She couldn't believe that I never once left my room through the whole tour.

"Do you live in a castle or something?" she asks me sarcastically when I sit down on the window seat again. I can see her waving around her hands, painting her nails red and now needing to dry them. Which is most likely why she hasn't been signing this whole time.

"_How did you guess?_" I ask her completely serious.

"Your serious," she says. Apparently satisfied with her nails, she holds out her fist and places her three fingers on top, lifting them up then back in the sign for 'wow'.

* * *

Glancing away from my work to look at my watch, I see that it's about time for dinner. Standing up from my expensive desk set in my study, I make my way to the other side of the castle to my niece's room.

I had just been looking through her medical files that I could bring up. So far only one has stated of her being mute. However, there is nothing saying about any special treatment that she needs. I cannot find anything about what language she uses either.

As I stand outside her door, I hear a single voice coming through. A young girls voice sounding like a one-sided conversation. Confused, I knocked my hand on the wooden door, I could hear footsteps walking towards the door before my niece opened it.

She wears the same baggy clothing from earlier this morning. I'm going to need to talk to her about that. If she will talk back to me that is. I do know some ASL but not enough to have a proper conversation. I think I'm fairly lucky with Anna-belle though. She's fairly well mannered even when she can't talk. And so far she has stayed out of the way of things.

"Who are you talking to?" I ask her.

She looks like she is considering telling me before motioning me to follow her. She picks up a palm sized notebook and pen from her bedside table and I briefly note the laptop sitting on her made bed. She finishes her note and passes me the notepad sitting on her bed in front of the laptop. 'My friend Claire,' is written on the note and she is now signing away to a girl on the screen. The girl is Anna-belle's age with short blond hair. Anna-belle gets my attention and motions to the notepad. I hand it back to her and she scrawls something else down.

'She wants to say hi. If you want to that is' she shows me.

I nod and she turns the laptop so that I'm in the frame. "Hello, Claire," I say clearly.

The young girl waves back and says, "Hi Mr Masters, it's nice to meet you! It's awesome of you to take in Anna-belle too!"

Hmm, another well mannered teen. Interesting. "Nice to meet you too." Bringing my attention to Anna-belle, I ask her, "I will be having dinner if you would like to join me."

She grabs the laptop and signs to her friend. "It's cool. I'll talk to you later!" Claire said in response. Anna-belle nods up at me, closing the laptop. I walk out of the room and my niece follows slightly behind like this morning. I notice that she shoved the notepad and pen in her back pocket. Maybe I can get some answers out of her this time.

* * *

"What would you like to do about school?" Vlad asks suddenly. I raise an eyebrow at him to hopefully convey the message. "You should be in school at this time of the year, it is only April after all."

Honestly, school has been the last thing on my mind. Sure, I did get uprooted right at the beginning of my school term, so I should probably get a tutor to catch up on the past few weeks that I had missed. But how would it work? Would they be able to speak? Even better, would I be able to communicate with them at all? Aren't they on a completely different year too? So wouldn't most kids be finishing their year?

A cough brought me out of my musings and my uncle looked to me for a response. Shrugging, I brought out the note pad and wrote, 'What options do I have?'

"The school year here is almost finished. You could finish in the grade that you were in last year and just continue when school starts again in the fall. Otherwise, I could look at getting you a tutor until you are ready to start school in the fall," he said before continuing with his meal.

A tutor would be nice. Something small to start with. Again that brought up the same problems: mostly communication. Vlad should be able to figure that one out though, he seems to be a pretty intelligent person if this place has anything to indicate his success.

Writing down a quick note, I showed him, 'Tutor.' Then went back to my meal.

He nodded in understanding. "Very well. I shall start looking for a tutor tomorrow." That brought a valid point. What day is it? I'm completely lost on that. Between my family, moving, and every little thing in between, I have lost track of time. Picking up the notepad from the table, I write out my message, 'What day is it?'

Vlad raised an eyebrow when I showed him the message. "It is Thursday."

That put a dampen on my mood instantly.

Thursday.

Six weeks ago it happened.

Sighing, I reeled my emotions in until I could get away from my uncle. I could only pick at my half finished meal and could see Vlad look at me confused. I can't bring myself to care. As long as I don't break down right now I don't care what he thinks. Maybe I do care.

Frustrated at my thoughts, I sign to the person next to me. "_May I be excused?_"

"What was that Anna-belle?" Another blow to my emotions. Nobody here could understand me without having a pen and paper.

'_May I be excused?_' I write with a shaking hand.

"Yes you may." Before he could even finish his sentence, I was up and out of the room. Wanting to be completely alone, I made my way to my room and into the adjoined bathroom. Turning the water to the shower on, I continued to hold everything back. Stepping into the steaming shower was the last straw.

The silent tears finally broke that dam.

* * *

After I finished my meal, I made my way to my study. I figured I could start searching for her tutor and get in contact with them tomorrow morning. Thinking over our conversation, I decided to find out how to get us to both learn ASL. It would make conversing vastly easier. Briefly I also thought of what had set Anna-belle off. She seemed fine up until the mention of the day. Odd.

Glancing down at my wristwatch, I figured I should check up on my niece before getting to bed.

Walking into the room, I found her boots sitting at the door. The girl however is not in the main area. No sounds come from the bathroom so she isn't there either. Checking in her study area, I find her curled up on the window seat with her forehead pressed against the glass. She sits in purple stripped pyjamas with her damp hair hanging down the length of her back. She must have showered just after dinner. "Anna-belle?" I say.

She continues to sit there staring over the dark landscape. Instincts told me immediately that something is wrong. Calmly making my way over to the girl, I stand above her.

"Anna-belle, what's wrong?"

Still nothing.

Sitting down next to the girl, making sure to give her some space, even with her pressed into the corner. I hook a finger under her chin and turn her head to face me. She lets me but doesn't look into my eyes but at the seat instead.

She doesn't need to look in my eyes for me to see her red puffy eyes and tear streaked face.

Changing my entire tone, I quietly as her what is wrong again.

Her face completely crumples as she starts to silently cry again. Her face makes it seem like she wants to shout out instead of being silent however. Only great gasps and sobs escape her throat as I drop my hand.

I watch in shock at the crying child as she brings up her hands to hide her face from me. I had a sudden realization: her family. That can be the only reason for her breaking down so suddenly. I hadn't given much thought to how she would be handling the loss of almost everyone she loved. The only remaining person in Australia for her would be Claire.

Not entirely knowing what I was doing, I brought my arms up and wrapped them around her tiny shaking frame. She resisted for only a second before her silent cries became more desperate. Her small hands found a place in my white shirt and clung there as if her life depended on it. I felt my shirt grow wet where her face is smashed against me her damp hair not helping.

I can only sit there and rub the broken-hearted girl's back. As the cries continued, I hummed softly to try and get her to stop. She could get herself stuck into a state that I cannot get her out of if she continues this way.

She eventually runs out of steam and just sits there still gripping onto my shirt, hiccups escaping her every now and then. I continue to rub circles on her back and hum. I can feel her drifting into an exhausted sleep in my arms. I pick the tiny girl up from underneath her knees and a hand on her back. She keeps her hands attached to my very crumpled white shirt as I carry the girl to her bed in silence.

Once there, I removed her hands from the shirt, then pulled the covers over her exhausted form. She snuggled down into the covers of the pink bed but still had a frown on her features even in sleep. I would be needing to find her a psychologist, as well as the tutors.

Figuring I could do nothing more for her now, I left the room.

* * *

**You guys are amazing! I love writing about these two (don't worry our favourite hero will get here later) and I'm glad that others like it! So thank you to all who have read this! (I need to stop using exclamation marks!)**

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**Also, I should probably note that ASL is American Sign Language, and AUSLAN is Australian Sign Language. I don't much of either, so the internet has been a big help. Let me know if there is anyone who actually knows either language and if I have gotten anything incorrect.**

**So let me know what you think and I will see you all next time!**


	4. Months

June

I made my way to the archery range just after work one Wednesday evening. Dealing with people today was worse than normal. Everyone thinks that they are the centre of the universe and think themselves above everyone else. It does become rather infuriating. Especially when working out new business contracts.

The archery range had been used recently. Odd. The only person that would want to use it would be Anna-belle. Even then, she had never shown any interest for archery before now.

It has been two months since I took my niece in. We still mostly stayed out of each others way. Supper would be our only full meal together, and half of breakfast as I would usually finish before Anna-belle would even get downstairs. Otherwise, I would be out at work all day. All in all, not much has changed for me.

It was mostly that first week that she had arrived that anything changed. After that first Thursday night, I had found her a tutor and a psychologist. Each weekday she would spend four hours in the morning with her tutor, then would study on her own after lunch and before I got back from work. Even now when most other children are on holidays, she still studies. Anna-belle would see her psychologist twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays), and I received any updates on how she is going through them.

Picking up my favourite bow, I strung it up and reached for a quiver and froze. On the tips of the arrows were splotches of blood. Eyes widening, I immediately made my way to the young girl's room.

* * *

I sat on my couch, rubbing my bandaged finger as I chatted with Claire. Every second day, we would still make sure to talk to each other. It usually would happen as she got ready for school in the morning and just as I finished my own day. Currently, she is running around her room getting everything packed into her bag. She is completely rugged up in jeans and a big jacket. She would complain daily about the cold weather and how I got to have two summers in one year.

I fixed the long-sleeved cream blouse around my wrists – one of the new ones from the new wardrobe that Vlad had gotten for me. I needed to wear it today to hide the bruises that I got on my elbow from the archery range earlier. Don't get me wrong, I do know what to do there. It's just a stupid female trait that causes bruising every now and then – when we straighten our arms out, the elbow sticks straight into the path of the released string.

"Anna-belle," my uncle's voice called from beyond the door, my only warning before he came in looking for me. Claire had stopped running around and looked through the screen with interest.

As he came over to where I am sitting, I signed hello to him. That's another thing that had changed in the past month. I learnt that Vlad could sign a little ASL, so I went online in my study period after lunch and taught myself ASL. I'm still having trouble with it, but at least I can spell my messages out to him instead of writing everything.

"Were you in the archery range today?" he asks as I crane my neck over my shoulder to see him. Discreetly hiding my bandaged hand from sight.

"Busted," I hear Claire mutter.

Shooting her a quick glare, which she laughs at, I then sign – with one hand – to Vlad, "_Why?_"

"Give me your hand," he practically demands. I hold out my right hand to him – the one without the bandage on my index finger. He only briefly looks at it. "The other one."

I pause for a second before I realise that he already knows so there is no point hiding it. Holding up my left hand too, I see him scowl a little before schooling his expression once again. "Claire, I am afraid I will have to talk with Anna-belle alone."

"Oh, uh, that's fine," Claire startles for a minute. "I'll talk to you later, Belle."

I closed the laptop, put my hands atop my brown skirt and stared at them. Here it comes.

"How did that happen?" he asks first.

"_I was de-stringing the bow and got my finger caught. It's only a small cut._" Just bled a lot, I added to myself.

"Who put the bandage on?"

"_I did._"

"Let me see." Vlad sits down next to me and holds out his hand. Placing my own in it, I'm surprised when he firmly grips my wrist. In one swift movement he yanks up the sleeve of my shirt, exposing the slight bruising. "Anna-belle," he sighs, and I get the distinct impression that he is disappointed. Instinctively, I feel guilty. Although I'm still not entirely sure why. This is nothing compared to when I first tried archery.

He unwraps, then re-wraps the bandage apparently satisfied that I could care for myself. "Why would you go in there on your own? You could have seriously hurt yourself."

"_I'm not stupid,_" I sign with an eye roll.

"I know you are not. However, you still could have hurt yourself playing around."

"_I knew what I was doing_," I defended, getting irritated with him thinking he knows everything. He just looked at me condescendingly and that's what got to me. Hopping out of the seat I signed behind me as I left the room, "_Come on_."

Determined to prove myself, I made it to the archery room with my uncle following behind me. I quickly strung up the same bow that I had been using earlier and got a quiver down off the wall. I briefly noted the discarded bow and arrows on the other side of the room. The arrows having a little blood on them. Ah, so that's how he knew.

Without another word to Vlad, I took up the proper stance and aimed for the board. All fifteen of the metal arrows hit inside the yellow. Given that the board was barely twenty meters in front of me, it isn't that hard to do. Turning my head around, I was happily surprised to see his eyebrows raised and a look of shock on his face. I had to smirk at his reaction. He noticed this and went back to the stoic Vlad that I knew.

"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked.

"_Camp with my brother_," I signed walking to gather the arrows from the board. "_I did a couple of competitions too._" Jeez, competition is a big word to spell out.

"Hmm. You may use this room as long as you wear the protective equipment then," he says as I de-string the bow and place everything back. "However, you will be helping Matthew clean up after each meal tomorrow for using this room without permission."

I gave a little smile at that without meaning to, then seriously hoped that he didn't see it.

"Why did you smile at your punishment?"

Damn.

"Anna-belle," he warned.

"_No reason_." I mean, it's not like I help him with the breakfast and lunchtime dishes anyway. That was sarcasm people. I actually do that.

He watched me for a minute before walking out of the room. Wondering just where he is going, I followed him to the kitchen. Matthew was just getting a few things cleared up as we walked in.

"Mr Masters, young miss," he greets with his always happy demeanour. "I was just about to serve your supper in the dining room."

"Hello, Matthew. I was just giving a small punishment to Anna-belle. Just helping clean your kitchen after the meals tomorrow." Matthew amusedly glanced at me. "Now, why would you both be happy for this punishment?"

"Just that it would be good to spend some time together," Matthew smooths over.

"Hmm, maybe she should spend sometime cleaning the gardens too," Vlad mused and I pouted at my extended punishment. Seriously, it's not this bad. And why gardening? I hate gardening. "Yes, just after breakfast on the weekend, you can help the gardeners out."

I continued to sulk till the meal was brought out.

* * *

July

I had been doing good. I mean, I still miss them. But now I can I can live without them. I constantly think about them. There is no way that I couldn't. Teal, my shrink, tells me that I can think about them, just not let it take over my life. So that's what I'm going to do.

Now, what's the date?

14th.

Damn.

Their birthday is tomorrow.

Okay, well, I can celebrate it anyway. Just like I have done the past thirteen years. Going to my closet, I set out what I will wear tomorrow. Definitely the shoes that my brother got me last year. Then maybe my old blue shorts , and a white tee like he used to always wear. Yep, that'll do it.

* * *

Anna-belle has been down today. I can easily tell, the girl is just too easy to read. She is almost back to where she was at when she first got here. Emotionally that is. She is back to wearing the tattered purple shoes, blue shorts and plain white tee.

"What's today?" I ask her at lunch, unable to guess what the significance is. I would be spending the entire day at home. Sunday, my favourite day. Absolutely no plans on the horizon.

"_My brother and dad's birthday_," she signs. Just from that, I can see tears pooling in her eyes. She sighs and blinks them back, continuing to eat her mac'n'cheese.

What do I do about this? Would she want to be alone, or spend time with people? Does she want to celebrate in her own small way? I still don't know enough about the girl, or her family to really help her out. The rest of the meal passes without any more words exchanged.

"You've never told me about your brother," I simply say as we made our way out of the kitchen where we had just dropped our plates.

"_You- you want to know?_" she asks incredulously.

"If you are willing to tell me, then I am willing to listen."

Her face breaks out into a grin and she quickly asks where we should talk. After telling her the sitting room would be best, she ran to her room happily. Clearly this means a lot to her. In record time, she came back in with two thick books held in her hands. She plops down on the sofa next to me and opens up the newer looking book. Flicking to the back page, a family photo takes up the entire space.

She points to the young man smiling brightly at the camera. His hair is dark brown – practically black – and he has bright blue eyes. He sits next to his sister with their hands clasped together.

"_My brother, Wyatt_," she signs with a smile. I can see tears in her eyes though.

The rest of the afternoon was spent telling stories of their adventures as kids. Needless to say, there was plenty of tears.

* * *

August

"Did you want to start school?" my uncle asks me as I sit in the study reading. I had found the section on archery, and am reading up on the history of it. Vlad's idea of course. The man himself is sitting with a pile of paperwork at the desk. I' sitting across the room, in a single couch with two other books on the coffee table beside me. I'm currently wearing a navy blue dress that I had found, and it's my favourite dress. I had changed mostly how I dress to get rid of the 'rags' that Vlad had so kindly called my old clothes. My hair – done in a side plait today – and glasses still stay the same though.

"_Can't I stick with home-schooling?_" I sign back. The signing has gotten much easier, not without a ton of practice in the past few months. Five months in fact.

"Your psychologist thinks that it would be more beneficial if you were around children your age more," he says looking back to his work.

I clap once to get his attention. "_Does archery not count?_"

"It does, but not enough."

"_What if I started another sport?_"

"I suppose that could work," he says rubbing his goatee. "What did you have in mind?"

I just shrug. I guess I would have normally played soccer. But I really cannot see Vlad being a 'soccer mum'.

"What about horse riding?" he suggests.

"_Maybe_," I say considering. I had never ridden a horse before, so that might not be the best idea. "_Swimming?_"

"How about we think on it tonight. You should be getting to bed too, it's getting late." He says glancing down at the clock on his computer.

"_Sure_," I say gathering the books back up. I place two of them back on the shelf where I had found them and tucked the third under my arm. Making my way across the room barefooted, and left the room with the door closing behind me.

"Also," my uncle says just before the door closes. Sticking my head back though, I just manage to hear what he says. "Just so you know, I will be holding a college reunion in two months time."

* * *

**Translation: next chapter. Well if you people want that is. I can add in another chapter of more Vlad and Anna-belle stuff, or just skip to the reunion. Review and let me know...**

**Also, now might be a good time to remind you that Anna-belle still doesn't know about ghosts...**

**So this time:**

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	5. Fentons

**Sorry for the wait guys! Going to be honest here: this was a pain to write. I tried so hard to get the characters, uh, in character and I hope I did okay. Danny was especially difficult to get right. I've had to split it into two parts as well. This first chapter has mostly Anna-belle's POV, while the next one is pretty much all Vlad's and Danny's POV, and will be out by the weekend judging by my uni schedule.**

**Alright, alright. Lets get to it...**

* * *

Breathing in deep and holding my breath, I pulled the string back and sighted down the length of the arrow. Moving the two fingers on my right hand, the arrow flew true and landed on the yellow. Pulling another arrow from the quiver on my hip, I set it carefully down on the basic bow. Wearing the navy blue dress that reaches to my knees – black ballet flats kicked off at the door – was probably not the best thing to wear while practising. Not wearing any safety equipment, leaving my sleeveless arms bare, is probably not a good idea either. Eh.

The house had been busy all day with people coming and going to set up for the college reunion tomorrow. Sebastian and Sage had been around making sure all of the needed rooms are prepared. Matthew had extra hands in the kitchen to help him prepare the meals for the two hundred or so guests. I had offered to help in the kitchen, however, due to past events, both Vlad and Matthew had adamantly declined my offer.

It wasn't my fault that the sugar and salt got switched when I made cookies.

Any way. Vlad hadn't told me much about the guests staying overnight. The only indication was the three guest rooms being prepared. So, maybe three people staying over. Or, six people. Eh, I'll just have to wait. I was planning of staying out of the way most of the weekend. Hence, why I'm here instead of out in the entranceway waiting for the guests. Releasing the arrow, it hits in the red. Pouting, I check the clock on the wall before picking another arrow.

It's getting close to dinner so they should be getting here any minute.

* * *

"Sir?" Sebastian's voice came through the door to the study.

"Yes?"

"Your guests have arrived."

"Thank you, Sebastian," I say finishing up some paperwork. This weekend will be fairly busy, so I had been doing most of it this afternoon. The only thing that I had been looking forward to in this whole weekend, is having Maddie around. It has been years since I have last caught up with either Maddie or Jack.

Oh, Butter Biscuits! I knew that I had forgotten something! I had planned to send the vultures out to kill that fat oaf. Alas, Anna-belle distracted me enough that I had completely forgotten! Hmm, perhaps I could just send them after him tonight.

Making my way to the entrance, I kept an eye out for Anna-belle. I did tell her that she should be around to greet our guests, although she didn't really seem to like the idea. It's a little odd. She gets nervous any time she meets new people, but then warms up to them quite quickly. As expected, she wasn't in the entrance. Most likely being in the archery range. She spends a ridiculous amount of time in there.

I stood in the doorway watching as the Fentons got out of their ridiculous looking vehicle. My eyes were practically glued to Maddie, the love of my life. I briefly glanced at their two children, Jasmine and Daniel, and barely bothered with the oaf Jack. Reigning in my emotions for now, I stepped out and greeted the family.

"Jack; And Maddie. You've never looked lovelier, my dear. Please, please, come in," I say ushering in Maddie and her children.

"Vladdie, my man. It's good t-" I cut Jack off as let the door slam shut on his face. Smirking to myself, I could hear him trying to get in. The three Fentons inside were currently looking around my grand entrance. Still no Anna-belle.

"What's with the green and gold? You're a billionaire. Surely you could afford an interior designer," the girl Jasmine observed.

"Jazz, hello? Football helmets, jerseys, cheese-heads. He's a Packer's fanatic," Daniel said happily showing off to his big sister.

"Oh, fanatic is such a negative word," I say ruffling the boy's raven black hair. "But yes."

"But I don't understand," the girl continued. "You have billions of dollars. Instead of buying this stuff, why don't you just buy the team?"

"Because the Packer's are owned by the city of Green Bay and they won't sell them to me," I say grumpily. Realising my outburst, I quickly straightened up and leaned to Maddie. "One of two things my wealth has not, as of yet, been able to acquire."

She just smiled meekly up at me as I heard the children talk with my enhanced hearing.

"Is he hitting on mom?" the boy asked dead on.

"As long as he has working toilets and mom says no, who cares," his sister brushed off.

"I, uh, better let Jack in," Maddie told me.

"Wow, cool!" Daniel said looking at a signed football.

"This is my prize possession," I say picking up the ball.

Just as I'm about to explain it's significance, I hear, "Heads up V-man!" Jack then proceeds to tackle me to the ground. "I see you've still got the old moves."

Unable to hold in my anger I snatch the football out of his grasp and put it back as carefully as I could manage. "I never had any old moves! All those years in the hospital robbed me of that!"

The Fentons just looked stunned at my outburst. "Yes, well," I say gathering my composure yet again. "It gave me time to chart out a course for my life didn't it? Make some decisions to make me very wealthy, very quickly. And it's all thanks to you, Jack."

"Uh, yeah, maybe we should go," Maddie said glancing between me and her husband.

"No, no. You should stay here with me. It is why I'm having the reunion here in my castle. Just so I could reconnect with you Jack. I insist you stay."

* * *

Looking out the giant windows that frame the giant double doors in the entryway, I see an odd looking vehicle is pulled up just outside the castle, er, mansion? Still don't know what to call this place. The vehicle looks like something between a van and an RV. With a ton of extra gadgets on the sides and roof. Interesting. I guess the guests must be here then. Continuing, I make my way up the staircase to freshen up in my room.

I had to stifle a gasp and stopped halfway up the stairs as a boy was making his way down them. His red converse, blue jeans, and white tee barely registered in my mind. What did catch my attention is his raven black hair and bright blue eyes. Even down to the shape of his face as he gazed around the Packers decorated entryway.

It all reminds me of my brother.

"Uh, hey," he greets continuing down the stairs to meet me.

Realising that I had been staring at him, I averted my gaze to the suddenly very interesting banister, ears bright red.

"Are you Anna-belle?" he asks stopping next to me.

Glancing up at him, I nod. I can't seem to keep my eyes on one spot, they flick between the boy's face and the rest of the hall. Jeez, stop acting so weird. It's not like he is your brother, I tell myself.

"Mr Masters mentioned you when he took us to our rooms earlier. I'm Danny by the way," he says.

All I can think to do is smile and nod.

"Are you going to dinner?" Danny asks and I again nod. "So, why are you going upstairs?"

My eyes widen and I realise that I can't respond to him. Damn it. I wish dresses have pockets for my pen and paper. I end up shrugging and making my way upstairs again. If he follows, then I can explain it. If not, I'll just see him at dinner.

"I'll see you later," he sort of questions.

Looking over my shoulder, I give him a nod and a small smile. Rushing to my room, I clean up so that Vlad can't tell where I have been all afternoon – he probably already knows, but still. Once ready, I made my way back downstairs and straight to the dinning room.

The long table that can easily sit fourteen, and that is normally occupied by two, now has six places set out. Five of them which were already occupied. They all turned to look at me as I walked in, halting any of the previous chatter. Vlad and Danny were the only two of the people there that I knew – somewhat.

A girl with bright orange hair, black top, and turquoise eyes that matches her hair band and pants was another. She looks to be a year or two older than Danny, who I'm guessing is her brother. The other two are probably their parents, and they look to be Vlad's age. The big man has black hair that is starting to grey, and wears an orange jumpsuit. The woman has her own blue jumpsuit on and has short brown hair.

"Anna-belle, nice of you to make it," my uncle says bringing me out of my frozen state. Blushing and ducking my head at the attention, I make my way over to the empty seat between Vlad and the orange haired girl. Holding my free fist over the centre of my chest, I circle it twice in the sign for sorry. "No harm done. Anna-belle these are the Fentons; Maddie, Jack, Jasmine and Daniel. Fentons, this is Anna-belle, my niece."

"V-man! You never told me you had a niece," Jack, the one in the orange jumpsuit burst out.

"Nice to meet you, Anna-belle," the woman, Maddie says.

I reach to where I used to leave the pen and paper before I could sign to Vlad but, my hand touches the wooden table top instead. Crap! I thought I forgot something.

Sheepishly, I sign instead. "_Nice to meet you too._"

"Uh, Vlad?" Maddie says looking for a translation.

"She said it's nice to meet you too," my uncle fills in for me.

"Are you mute?" the girl beside me asks, and I nod in reply.

"What's a mute?" Jack asks.

"Someone who can't speak, Jack," Maddie fills in for him.

"Oh. So, Vladdie! Have you seen the Dairy King ghost around here?"

"Just ignore my parents when they start talking about ghosts," Jasmine says to me.

I raise an eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"They're obsessed with ghosts," she says before turning to talk to her brother, leaving me to my own thoughts.

Ghosts? They exist? I know my brother believed in the supernatural when he was eight, but gave it up after a while. He never even touched on ghosts in that year. But for these parents to be obsessed with them, they must have some evidence. Either that or they are a little crazy.

Three of the people who had been helping in the kitchen brought our plates out. And we all dug into the meal of steak and salad. Not my favourite thing, but I can put up with it. The rest of the dinner past with the adults catching up with little input from the three of us. Well, Jasmine and Danny did talk to each other a bit. So I guess it was just me not being able to input much. Not that I minded.

Dessert was brought out and Jack was going on about some story of when they were in college. Vlad had been acting a little strange around him. Actually, both Jack and Maddie. It almost seemed like he was flirting with Maddie. And it seemed like he hated Jack. If I hadn't been around Vlad I would not have picked up on the subtle hints in his voice changing.

"May I be excused? I'm pretty tired," Jasmine said breaking the lull in the adults conversation.

"Sure you can. In fact we might all wrap this up now if that's okay?" Maddie asked Vlad.

"That's no trouble. You all must be exhausted from the trip. I will see you all tomorrow morning," Vlad said. We all got up and made our own way out and around the place. I made my way to my room, maybe to read until I'm tired. It is still fairly early after all.

"What are you going to do now?" Danny asked as we hiked our way up the main staircase.

I just shrugged.

"Well, what do you normally do around here?"

* * *

I woke to the sounds of...um...I'm not actually sure. It sounded like someone falling over and hitting the ground, over and over again. Groggily getting up out of bed, I somehow made it to the door. The clock on my table read 2:00am. Jeez, who is up at this hour?

BANG!

I jumped at least three feet off the ground.

That sounded like it was just down the hall. Opening my wooden door carefully, I peered out and looked down the hall. My eyes widened as I recognised a figure on the ground. The boy has a strange glow to him. Snow white hair and a strange black and white jumpsuit too. He is sprawled out on the ground unconscious.

Just as I was about to step out and go to the boy, another figure _floated through the wall_. I held my hands to my mouth to stop a gasp trying to escape. The tall figure looks just like a vampire. White suit, white cape, pointed back hair, blue complexion and glowing red eyes.

What are they? Clearly not human. Humans don't glow, float, or go through walls. Vampire? But I don't remember vampires being able to float through walls. What can float through walls? ...ghosts? Maybe. But I've never seen anything like this here before. Maybe they followed the Fentons? Jasmine did say her parents are ghost hunters.

The older one landed next to the unconscious one. Just as he did, a bright blue – nearly white – ring formed around the younger one's middle. They spread over the figure and his form changed leaving someone familiar in his place.

Danny?

Apparently I'm not the only one shocked here, as the older figure gasped too. I stopped breathing when another pair of black rings formed around the elders middle. My uncle was left in his place.

_What the heck is going on?!_

"The ghost boy, is Jack Fenton's son?" Vlad said. He then bent down and scooped Danny easily into his arms.

My brain finally decided to function again when I realised that they would be passing my door. I quickly moved away from it and closed it slightly. Trying to stop my breathing, that had gone from zero to hyperventilating, from being heard, I listened as his footsteps passed by the door and further down the hall. Poking my head out again, I watched as Vlad walked around the corner and out of sight.

Closing the door, I went to my desk and picked up my laptop. Moving to the couch, I got the throw and got comfortable. Opening my web browser, I started my research on ghosts. If that didn't bring up anything, I would keep looking until I found out exactly what I've been living with.

I wouldn't be sleeping at all tonight.

* * *

**Okay, that's all you're getting out of me this time. Next chapter will be more, ah, ghostly, if you will.**

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	6. Reunion

**I just spent an hour on this. It's a little shorter then usual but I'm hoping that with the content you will be happy.**

**Edit: Hehe, oops. I realised that some of this might not make too much sense (Thank you to Atea1793 for pointing this out). I've made slight changes to this and the previous chapters for this, but nothing too major. **

**Onwards!  
**

* * *

I pace in front of the fireplace in the library where I had not too long ago fought Phantom. There is no possible way for me to sleep after what I just discovered. For the past twenty years, thinking I was the only one. And now I find the son of the fat oaf has created another half-ghost.

His _son_ no less.

With this new found knowledge, I will never be able to go back to being the only half-ghost. I need to get the boy to see that I never meant to harm him. That may be slightly difficult. Considering what I just put the boy through just a few hours prior. From what I viewed of his abilities during that encounter, he definitely has a way to go. Although, he has done fairly well for himself. Living with ghost hunters as parents and being put through all that he has at such a young age cannot be good for him. But he has handled it well; as far as I can tell.

Maybe I could train him. He could definitely learn a thing or two – more actually. It would be safer here than in his own home I'm sure. I would have to approach him carefully, sort of like how I would with Anna-belle on her 'bad' days. Breaking the news to him could make or break the plan.

The only problem with getting Daniel here is Anna-belle. How would she take all this? That is, if she found out about ghosts. As far as I am aware, she still knows nothing – and if she does, she has hidden it well. I had planned to keep it that way. However, with multiple ghosts in the castle, she is bound to figure something out eventually. It's only a matter of time.

I can't help but think that this would be much easier to handle if she wasn't here. Although, she has made me see a way to be a little more sensitive to people. Which will definitely come in handy when dealing with Daniel tomorrow.

* * *

Just at noon, all of the other guests arrived and the reunion started. I got dressed in the tux that I brought from Amity and made my way downstairs with my parents. After some dull introductions with a lady, who I think is Harriet Chin, I made my way to a table off to the side.

My parents were currently in the middle of people 'dancing'. Jazz hiding off in the theatre watching old football games, and Anna-belle is...somewhere.

It was quite a surprise meeting Belle (her name is just too long to not shorten it, and she seemed cool with the name anyway). It was a bit awkward trying to communicate at first, but when she showed me her room last night, she found a pen and paper and that is how we talked the rest of the night. I've actually been able to tell a lot from just her expressions and gestures though. The only topic she avoided talking about was where her parents were and where she used to live before coming here – she did tell me that she has been here for half a year though. We mostly just hung out in her room, eventually making our way to the entertainment area where we found a huge TV with a console and a number of games, which is were we spent another few hours before we became exhausted.

I can't say I had the best sleep. Don't get me wrong, the bed is like a cloud to sleep on! Just a few ghostly influences interrupted a decent amount of my sleep. I can feel the slight bruising on my stomach still from _that_ ghost. I don't think I've ever met a ghost as powerful as that one.

Actually, I know I haven't.

I'm still a little confused as to how Mr Masters found me in the hall. It was 2am after all. But I guess its a good thing that he was cool with it and didn't seemed to bothered. As long as that ghost doesn't show again, then the rest of the day should go smoothly and I'll be back in Amity Park in no time.

A tap on the shoulder brought me out of my thoughts and I focused again on Belle's smiling face. "Hey, Belle."

She just waves in greeting. She wears a similar outfit to what she had on when she arrived yesterday. The only difference is her hair, which has been pulled back into a bun at the back of her head. Although, looking closer, I notice shadows under her eyes that are trying to hide behind her black glasses, which I didn't happen to notice at breakfast this morning.

"Did you sleep last night?" I question. Belle holds up her pointer finger and thumb close together, _a little_.

"Ah, Anna-belle and Daniel. Just the people I wanted to see." Both of us turn at the voice behind us. Mr Masters stands there smiling down at us.

"Oh, hey Mr Masters," I greet in the same manner. Belle next to me just looks between the two of us with that same look that my sister gets when she is trying to figure something out.

"Anna-belle, I was wondering if I could speak with Daniel. You know, man to man," the older man says.

Anna-belle then signs something to her uncle while I stand a little awkwardly off to the side.

"I only need him for a few minutes, then you can go talk again."

She then continues to sign. Which I should probably learn if I want to properly speak with her.

"Yes, I will find you when we are done. Come now, Daniel," Mr Masters says to me and walks to the open doorway of the ballroom.

"I'll meet you later," I say to Belle as I make my way to follow the man. I only feel a little guilty for leaving her in the middle of the ballroom with the adults, but my curiosity takes preference as to what Mr Masters wants. Besides, this shouldn't take too long from what the man said.

We made our way to a small doorway just past the stairs, all the while with Mr Masters greeting the guests. Inside the room, I was a little shocked. It looks just like the lab in the basement of my house. I wandered into the room and past the benches. Mr Masters stayed at the doorway watching as I explored around the space. I came up to a bench with a framed photo of a younger Vlad Masters and my parents.

"I'm sorry, Daniel." I don't turn to the man standing in the doorway, still looking at the very well kept photo.

"What for?"

"I've done something despicable to you. You should know that I never meant to hurt you." A dark flash of light made me turn to the man. Only it's not Vlad Masters standing there. Instead it's the ghost that I fought last night.

Gasping, I take a step back and turn into my own ghost half. "You- you attacked me!"

He rolled his red eyes at me. "Dear boy, I only did that because Danny Phantom trespassed into my territory. If I had known it was you, I would have never have attacked you."

"Really? But what about those vultures? They tried to attack dad."

"Yes. Those vultures must have known your father was here and attacked the man. He is a ghost hunter after all. However, why would I attack the only other half-ghost in the world?"

"Because you're a Fruit-loop."

"Really? Nicknames, Little Badger?"

"Wait," I say, now relaxed around him. Of course, I was still watching him carefully, still wary about the amount of power that he holds. "How did you know?"

"You passed out and morphed back into your human-half. I am sorry about how I attacked you last night, Daniel," he adds at my wince. As he turns back to his human-half, I do the same.

"It's okay I guess," I say placing the photo frame back down on the work bench.

"When did it happen, if you don't mind me asking?"

"About two months ago." I say knowing what he is referring to, but not willing to say exactly what happened.

"I must say, you have a very good handle on your powers for only two months."

"Thanks." Maybe I could trust Mr Masters. He could show me a lot of things that I didn't even know were possible till this weekend. Having an experienced person helping me out with my powers will definitely benefit me. But would he be willing to help me? "Hey, since you're not trying to kill me, and you did say that you've had your powers for twenty years, do you think you could show me a few things sometime?"

"It would be my pleasure, Daniel. However, it will have to be at a later date. We are in the middle of my college reunion. Perhaps you could come and stay here for a few days in the holidays and I could help you out."

"That would be great!"

We made our way back to the ballroom after that, where I met up with Belle again. We spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between the ballroom and the video game room. Just before dinner, people started to make their way out. My family and I stayed for dinner before loading into the Fenton RV for the trip back to Amity Park, of course, not without exchanging IM details with Anna-Belle and getting Vlad's phone number (he told me to call him that rather than Mr Masters all the time) in case I needed to contact him.

One thing was certain: things were going to be different.

* * *

**And that's a wrap! No seriously, this is where I was originally planning on finishing this thing. But considering the amount of people that have viewed (just hit 1000! woop woop!) this story, I will be more than happy to continue this thing! I do love these characters! If I do end up putting more chapters up, they most likely won't be out till the 25th (stupid exams).**

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**MeMeLaLa: You may have to wait a little for more of Anna-belle's reaction to it all, sorry!**

**Thank you all so much for reading! :D**


	7. Aftermath

**Hehe. Hello there! I know, I know. I do have an exam tomorrow morning that I really should be cramming for… But I just needed to get this out of the way. It is a bit short again...but it's an early update for you people!**

**Disclaimer: I think we all know that I don't own Danny Phantom. Do I need to put this in each chapter? I'm pretty sure I have forgotten more often than not...**

* * *

I sat outside just under a willow tree. I could still see the castle behind me if I had turned. However my gaze is fixed on the little creek that I had discovered a few months ago. My back leaned up against the tree, while my legs were crossed on the soft grass. I can't ever remember seeing grass this soft or green before. We were in a drought when I left Australia, so most of the grass was browning, or if green then it was spikey. It still doesn't seem quite real.

The afternoon sunlight reflected off the water and into my eyes. So I simply closed them. I didn't even need them open to see the photo in my hands.

It has only been a day since the reunion and the Fenton's had left. I had never been much of a people person, so I was glad that most people had left. It was difficult to see the Fenton's to be completely honest. It just reminded me too much of my own family. I think it was mostly Danny. He just has the same spirit that my brother has. Had.

Feeling the emotions becoming overwhelming to the point of my chest hurting, I took several deep breaths to calm myself. Honestly, I don't feel like anything has changed at all since I first got here. Yes I'm closer to my uncle and Matthew too, but nothing has changed in my view towards what happened. Even my shrink thinks so. I don't think it will ever change. It will always hurt. But having Danny to talk to and be normal around for the weekend made it hurt just that little bit less. It was nice.

Well, until it got weird. As far as I could tell, what I saw in the hallway were ghosts. But unless I had it confirmed there is no way for me to completely believe it. Jack and Maddie seem to think ghosts are real. Enough to dedicate their lives around it from what I got off Jazz. That still doesn't explain my uncle or Danny though. Nor why they were fighting. I could straight out ask Vlad if he knew about ghost or what I saw that night. But if I was wrong then he would think me crazy. Maybe I can ask Matthew if he has seen anything like it around here before.

I could hear footsteps coming up on the stepping stones. But I didn't bother opening my eyes. It was most likely Sebastian or Sage telling me dinner is ready, it wouldn't be the first time. I tucked the photo beside me so that whomever it is couldn't see it. The footsteps moved off the path and across the grass, stopping less than a meter from me. Creaking an eye open, I was surprised to see Vlad staring out over the creek, hands behind his back. He is dressed in his usual black suit, however he is missing the blazer.

"_What are you doing?_" I sign to him after getting his attention.

"Enjoying the view."

"_You never come here_."

"I've come out here before; not for a while though." We lapsed into silence again for a few minutes. "Why are you out here?"

Pointing to my right temple with my pointer finger, I circle it twice, "_Thinking_."

"Thinking about your missed appointment?" he says with a brow raised. I cringed slightly at that. I always tried to make sure that I did everything that was needed of me here. I really don't want to bother Vlad more than I have to. I would think that it would be difficult taking someone in without knowing them.

"_Sorry. I just didn't feel like going today_."

"Anything you want to talk about?" I just gave him a pointed look. If I didn't want to go to my shrink and talk, why would I start talking now? "Fair point. Supper is ready if you wish to join." I just got up, making sure to pick up the photo and brushed my navy blue skirt off.

"Where are your shoes?"

"_In my room_." He just shakes his head at that. It's not my fault that I don't like wearing shoes. It just feels so much better when you can feel everything you touch. That being said, if I go anywhere in public I will wear them.

I ask him how work was and he starts rambling on about his day. My mum always used to talk in the same fashion, not even realising when Wyatt and I would stop listening. I made sure to listen to my uncle's words though and nod at the appropriate times.

If anything came out of this whole mess, it's that you never know when things will end.

* * *

The next morning, after breakfast and Vlad had left, I made my way to the kitchen. "_Hi, Matthew_." I sign to him. Matthew had picked up on a few signs over the months. It was just the basics and his name mostly.

"Hello, Anna-belle." We just washed up in our usual manner. Only speaking when we wanted to. Although today I had my mind running in circles. Mostly about whether or not I should mention the ghosts or not. I would like a second opinion on this. Claire is out of the question. She would either straight up laugh at me, or call me crazy. I guess I do have Danny's contacts now so I could ask him. But we only met a few days ago, so that would just be weird. Vlad? Nope. Sebastian or Sage? I never really see them, so that would be awkward. So really, Matthew is my best bet...

"_I thought I saw something odd the other night_." I wrote to him on the notepad that was permanently in the kitchen now.

"What'd you see?"

"_I thought I saw these_," I wrote and immediately scribbled it out. "_Do you believe in ghosts_?" I felt him stiffen beside me and went back to cleaning the dishes. I quickly write more down and got him to read it. "_What? Have you seen them too_?"

"You should probably ask your uncle this, young miss."

"_What if he thinks I'm crazy though_?"

"He won't. Look I should finish cleaning up here. Don't you have school today?"

I just frowned, nodded, and walked dejectedly out of the kitchen. Why was he acting like that? I didn't say anything wrong, did I? Maybe he was offended by something I said? Maybe I should talk to Vlad about it. Well, he has already left, so I can ask him when he gets back later tonight. For now, I need to get to the study for school.

* * *

My personal phone rang from my trouser pocket, disturbing me from my work. Fishing it out, I recognised the castle phone number. I immediately picked it up knowing that I never got a call from there without it being important.

"Hello?"

"_Mr Masters. It's Matthew, sorry for calling in the middle of the day_." His voice says through the speaker.

"It's fine Matthew. What is it?"

"_Anna-belle just came in asking about ghosts_."

"What?! What happened?" I ask making sure that my office door was still closed. He retold what had happened in the kitchen earlier. I'm rather surprised that this hadn't happened earlier to be honest. Anna-belle is constantly surrounded by ghosts without her realising it. Until now apparently. It could have just been the Fenton's influence and Anna-belle just asking about it. However, she would need to see proof before actually wondering about ghosts. She's just that type of person. It must have been on the night I had found out about Daniel. We were fighting in the hallway just outside her room after all. "Okay. Thank you Matthew. I will talk to her at some point."

"_Enjoy your day, Mr Masters_." I hung up the phone with a farewell and sighed. Another thing to think about. Ever since Anna-belle has gotten here, things have been much more complicated.

* * *

**I don't think Anna-belle and Vlad will actually talk about ghosts in the next chapter. I just see it too out of character for both of them. But I will leave that up for others opinions, let me know, I can go either way.**

**I should probably tell you guys that I really don't know where this is heading either. I just write what feels right. Saying that, I do want to reveal what happened to Anna-belle's family, and I got another few chapters filled out too. If anyone has any ideas though, or if you want to see something happen, let me know.**

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**Atea1793: Thank you again for pointing that out for me. If you didn't see, I changed last chapter so it hopefully made a bit more sense…**

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**Thank you all for reading :)**


	8. Ahh

**Ahh... Hey guys... So it totally hasn't been nearly a month since the last update. Nope. Definitely not. Alright, I'll just get straight to the point: I'm bored. This story is literally going no where and I have lost all interest in this plot-line. **

**My solution: restart. **

**I will be continuing with this (following Anna-belle), just stripping the story to it's roots and rebuilding it back up from there (or even just pulling out a few chapters from here and moving from there). It will (hopefully) be a much better read than this waffle of a story I have created here. **

**So I apologise for anyone who has been waiting for an update, but I couldn't bring myself to continue with the way that it is heading. Thank you to all you lovely readers, followers, favourite-eers(I don't even know...), and reviewers. I wouldn't have even written the story thus far without your views etc. I shall hopefully see you all in a week or two with the updated version (which will still be called 'Vlad's Niece' if anyone wants to know...).**

xx

P.S. If anyone thinks I should keep this one up, let me know...


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